In colonial Maryland, every county cared for its own poor, but no poorhouses—also known as almshouses and workhouses—were built until 1768, when an act by the legislature created provisions for such houses in five counties, explains Patricia Schooley, of the Washington County Historical Society, who nominated the site for Endangered Maryland 2010.
Rather than a charitable institute, almshouses were meant as punishment for “vagrants, beggars, vagabonds, and other offenders.” And those sentenced to the almshouse were required to wear badges adorned with a “P” for pauper and essentially work as inmates. According to historians, almshouses persisted in our state until after 1940. The Washington County Almshouse is a “rare, surviving example of a poorhouse dating to the turn of the 19th century.” Several of the rooms even remain painted, though garishly, and contain fireplaces, the house’s only source of heat.
“The building is deteriorating and needs to be preserved to retain its architectural importance and tangible proof of this earlier social tradition,” says Schooley. The threat to this building, which the city acquired at a public auction for $90,000 in 1994, is that there are plans to demolish it and install parking spaces.
“The almshouse would make an elegant residence, upscale townhouses, or superb offices,” says Schooley, who has urged council members to consider adaptive reuse plans. Calls for comment to County Councilman Martin Brubaker were not returned.
For more information, call 301-797-8782 or visit Washington County Historical Society or the Washington County Historical Trust
To learn more about Almshouses in Maryland visit Maryland Online Encyclopedia or this article from the Maryland Department of Human Resources
To read the Herald-Mail's articles about this property after the publishing of the 2010 Endangered MD list:
April 19, 2010 - Mayor Calls for the Almshouse to be taken off endangered list
April 29, 2010 - Group won't remove Alsmhouse from endangered site list
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